tone and mood in poetry

• Tone


  The feeling displayed by the author toward the subject of the poem
• Mood


  The atmosphere that is prevalent in the poem
• Elements of a poem such as its setting, tone, mood and theme evoke certain feelings and emotions in readers
• Tone is conveyed and expressed through the attitude of the narrator or writer, subject matter, characters or events
• Mood is created by the poet for the reader through the use of various elements of a poem such as its setting, tone, voice and theme
• Words to describe tone

  • serious
  • playful
  • humorous
  • formal
  • informal
  • angry
  • satirical
  • ironical
  • sad
• Words to describe mood

  • idealistic
  • romantic
  • realistic
  • optimistic
  • pessimistic
  • gloomy
  • imaginary
  • mournful
• Example of tone and mood

  • Tone: optimistic

  Mood: romantic
• Example of tone and mood

  • Tone: cynical

  Mood: disgust
• he who sleeps on my lap

  a poem by Ronald Baytan
• These elements are created by the writer using specific setting, structure and diction. This style contributes to the overall impact of the poem. - tone and mood
• comes through from the poem’s structure and vocabulary and helps evoke the mood or establish the atmosphere of the poem. In other words, it evokes a certain mood in the reader

  • tone
• “Shall I compare you to a rainbowed shower Drawing to earth the very arc of dream, Or shall I say you are an orchid flower That fevers men beside a jungle stream?” —Angela Manalang-Gloria, “To Lovely Woman”

  tone- optimistic

  mood- romantic
• “Don’t Mr. Jacobson, Don’t say you’ve found Paradise in my country, Because behind the scent of women That put leis ’round your neck, The stinking smell of estuaries Suffocate the people of Tondo;” —Romulo P. Baquiran, Jr., “My Country’s No Paradise, Mr. Jacobson”

  tone- cynical

  mood- disgust
• ---- is the feeling displayed by the author toward the subject of the poem while ---- the atmosphere that is prevalent in the poem. The author creates the mood in the following poem by describing details of setting (time and place), characters, and events.
• He who sleeps on my lap by Ronald Baytan